ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

Medical personnel are “multitasking” to help combat COVID-19 in New York City, where thousands of service members continue to come together at the front lines.

“We’ve been multitasking in a variety of ways to help assist the hospitals as they call us,” said Lt. Col. Leslie Curtis, chief nursing officer for the 9th Hospital Center of Fort Hood, Texas, who is among those supporting efforts in hard-hit New York City.

The Association of the U.S. Army has joined in an effort asking Congress to immediately waive Tricare copayments for mail-order prescriptions.

In a joint letter to Congress, AUSA and other military and veterans’ groups say pharmacies at military treatment facilities are “high-traffic areas” that should be avoided during the global coronavirus pandemic, but the Tricare fee structure discourages beneficiaries from going elsewhere for their prescriptions.

The Trump administration is asking Congress to approve a $45.8 billion coronavirus emergency funding bill that would include $16.5 billion for veterans’ health care programs.

This would be in addition to an $8.3 billion measure already passed by Congress and signed into law.

The Army is ramping up efforts to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus by limiting soldier movement and working around the clock to develop and produce thousands of test kits in its own laboratories, senior leaders told Congress.

Moves for soldiers, their families and civilians from South Korea and Italy are suspended for 60 days in a decision announced March 6, and test kits are being built at nine Army laboratories validated to do so, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told members of the House Appropriations Committee subcommittee on defense during a March 11 budget hearing.

The Army wants to delay further transfer of its major military hospitals to the Defense Health Agency in a move intended to temporarily halt a global merger.

Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said he is not opposed to the health care reform effort aimed at increasing efficiencies and standardizing practices across the Defense Department. What does worry him is the timing.

Tricare is now offering 3D mammograms to eligible patients as a preventive health care service when screening for breast cancer—the most diagnosed cancer in women after skin cancers.

The new benefit was available beginning Jan. 1. Previously, Tricare only covered 3D mammograms for diagnostic purposes. This means a doctor could order them for at-risk patients or for further diagnosis. For regular breast cancer screening, Tricare previously covered 2D mammograms, according to information from Tricare.

The transformation of the Military Health System, which includes the Defense Health Agency assuming control of all military treatment facilities, will better serve troops and their families, but the process will not be simple, senior leaders say.

“If we’re successful in what I’m describing, then we’ll be more effective in the way we serve our patients,” Defense Health Agency Director Lt. Gen. Ronald Place said.

He added that DHA recognizes there will be some challenges along the way—but they should decrease over time.

Tricare-insured military children can face barriers to care, according to a study recently published in the Journal of Health Affairs.

The biggest barrier to health care access, the report says, is relocation. Frequent moves disrupt continuity of care but also pose an issue when a family relocates to an area where there are challenges such as transportation, provider availability or getting prompt appointments. 

An improved MHS GENESIS—the Defense Department’s new electronic health record—is set to deploy at four more military treatment facilities on Sept. 7, according to Defense Health Agency officials.

“The work that we’ve been doing is working to solve the problems that we’ve found in the record to date,” Air Force Maj. Gen. Lee Payne, MHS GENESIS functional champion and assistant director for combat support at DHA, said during a media roundtable on July 30.